This little fellow is a male Steatoda nobilis (false widow). The males do wander about & get into bother through this. The much plumper females tend to stick to their webs and normally have a hiding place close by, they rarely stray whole feet from there.

Hi Mark, thanks for that! I thought it was, I've been fascinated with the idea of finding one for ages! I set him free into the garden, there's definitely a female on the wall outside and many more in the garden and on the house walls. North London.

I think though, the horse has pretty much bolted with respect to the novelty of Steatoda nobilis sightings in the greater London/South East/South Coast? They aren't established everywhere in the UK as yet (Jaguarondi tells us they haven't reached his part of Norfolk yet), but they have been seen as far north as Aberdeen.

Thanks Mark but I'm no expert on Segestria - I've seen a few senoculata, but only one florentina. But yes, from the overall colour and the abdominal pattern I agree that's florentina. Impressive but, as Mark says, don't try and stroke it.

It's a small world to be sure. My daughter sent me the video of the spider grabbing the twig on facebook and I took the liberty of sending your friend a message (on facebook) earlier. As MWJB and Jaguarondi have allready said this is Segestria Florentina. There are loads about at the moment in our area. They used to be located around Travis Perkins woodyard at Sidcup Station but have now spread to the High Street and down Sidcup Hill. They are pretty much here to stay in the Bexley area. Just wait untill you see a really big one. This one had a body length of 32mm!

This is a Walnut Orb Weaver Nuctenea umbratica. They're quite common but not often seen as they tend to be nocturnal. Their web is very similar to a common Garden Spider. They have a reputation as a bit of a biter when handled, although people whose opinions I trust say this is undeserved,